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Historical Fiction: A Stepping Stone to Real History Stacy DeKeyser Stacydekeyser.com
Historical Fiction: A Stepping Stone to Real History
Stacy DeKeyser
Stacydekeyser.com
If you give a kid a historical novel…
Stacy DeKeyser
Stacydekeyser.com
My books:
…she might grow up to be a novelist.
• Every writer was a reader first.• There was probably a favorite historical novel in
the author’s childhood.
He might become curious about REAL history.
• History doesn’t happen only to “important” people.• Imagine a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle:
• Each historical novel is a piece of the bigger puzzle.• It’s not the whole story, but it helps complete the
picture.
She might see perspective and context.
• Readers can see themselves in the characters: Fiction relates history as it affects “regular” people.• A novel relates one individual’s experience
within larger events.• Different people=different experiences, even of
the same events. (More pieces of the puzzle.)
Wide reading creates a broader perspective.
He might recognize parallels andgain empathy.
• What can young readers learn about themselves, and current events, from reading historical fiction?• Playing baseball• The immigrant experience• Hong Kong protests?
What do we have in common with people who lived in the past?
She might learn to usecritical thinking skills.
• Learn to recognize the difference between fiction and facts.• Fiction can inform and lend perspective, but it’s
still fiction.• Apply this distinction to other disciplines:
• Science• Social media?
• Evaluate what you read.
Postscript: Every novel is a historical novel
• Look beyond the label.• Setting is time and place.• Every story is frozen in time.• Contemporary novels eventually become
“historical”:• The Outsiders• From the Mixed Up Files…• Jump the Cracks
Resources
• “Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People”:
https://www.cbcbooks.org/readers/reading-lists/best-of-lists/notable-social-studies/
• The Children’s Book Committee of the Bank Street College of Education:
https://www.bankstreet.edu/library/center-for-childrens-literature/childrens-book-committee/best-childrens-books-of-the-year/
